Easthampton property owner faces retroactive gas bill of $27,629

EASTHAMPTON — The owner of a mill building currently being renovated on Pleasant Street is hoping for a more favorable resolution with Columbia Gas over a retroactive bill of more than $27,000.

James R. Witmer II bought the 100-year-old mill known as The Brickyard in 2009, but this spring, Springfield-based Columbia Gas discovered he was billed just half of what he should have paid for gas usage.

When the error was discovered, Columbia Gas issued him a bill for $36,687. That amount has been since discounted by 25 percent, said Andrea Luppi, a spokeswoman for Columbia, to $27,629.

In addition, the company has set up a three-year repayment plan of $750 a month to match the length of time for the error in billing.

“We believe it’s very fair,” she said of the arrangement. “We have an obligation to the Department of Public Utilities to collect fees for consumed gas. ... (but) we are more than happy to work with him.”

Witmer is concerned because he now faces gas bills that are twice what he was paying, plus the additional $750.

He would at least like a delay in having to repay the bill so he can bring in additional tenants.

“It would certainly be better if it wouldn’t be hanging over me," he said. "It’s going to be a bit of a struggle to keep up with the increase.”

He said his gas bills have ranged from $12,000 to $15,000 a year, but that means they could now double.

He said he had tenants who have since left, so he can’t ask them for additional money.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do," he said. "I’m not laying down and dying. This comes a little bit out of left field. It’s sort of the way the world works.”

He said only about 20 percent of the building is currently rented. Built in 1910 as a textile mill, it is 175,000 square feet, and 146,000 of that can be rented, he said.

Luppi said this kind of billing issue “is not a unique experience.” She said Columbia will "bill retroactively if that’s the case. We measure gas consumed.”

She also said that his gas will not be shut off. He had been told if he did not start making $750 payments by Aug. 7, his gas would be shut off Aug. 10.